


Darcy Lewis Shops for Plants

by Portia77



Series: Darcy Lewis, Badass Bitch [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: And also dramatic AF, Darcy Lewis is fantastic, ENTIRELY FLUFF, F/M, M/M, Multi, No siree, OT3, Polyamory, Slice of Life, Threesome - F/M/M, Which is why I love her, WinterShieldShock - Freeform, no serious content to be seen, this is definitely not based on the time my mother dragged me shopping for plants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:16:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24871408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Portia77/pseuds/Portia77
Summary: The first year after Darcy, Bucky and Steve get their own place, the boys decide they want to develop their green thumb skills and grow a garden to rival the likes of any Martha Stewart types on the street.That’s fine and all, but they insist on Darcy being involved and, well… Darcy hates shopping for plants, okay?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers
Series: Darcy Lewis, Badass Bitch [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799653
Comments: 3
Kudos: 154





	Darcy Lewis Shops for Plants

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually a sequel to another oneshot I'm in the middle of writing that explains how the three of them end up together, but it's gotten wayyyy out of hand and I wanted to get this one up to motivate me to finish it.

“Darcy.”

“...” 

“ _ Darce _ .”

“Hmm?”

“We’re here.” 

Darcy Lewis looked up from her phone, where she was playing Blasterball 2, and sighed, lamenting. Across the street, slotted between two storefronts, was a massive outdoor space that was being rented to sell plants. It was big enough for a small crowd to wander through, and that’s exactly what seemed to be happening, judging by the lineup outside. 

She squinted up at the sunny sky and frowned. “Uh, are you sure you need me? Why don’t you just leave me the keys and--”

_ “No,  _ Darcy. You’re coming with us.” Steve came around to her door and opened it, holding a hand out to her. “C’mon, it’ll be fun.” When she hesitated, Steve flapped said hand in an impatient grabby motion entirely unbecoming of Captain America. 

Once he finally managed to drag her out of the car and close the door, he began animatedly swinging their linked hands, bouncing them around like she was a child needing to be entertained. (And, really, the comparison wasn’t all that far off). 

Bucky was walking alongside them, rolling his eyes and smiling at Darcy’s pouting. 

“I don’t get what’s so bad about it,” he said, nudging his sunglasses higher on his nose with the tip of his middle finger. “You love shopping.” 

“I love shopping for things I can’t kill,” Darcy corrected pointedly. “This is just… You might as well toss my hard earned cash in the garbage disposal.”

“ _ Darcy _ . We’ve been over this,” Steve sighed. They’d had this conversation about a dozen times today, but neither seemed to be having any luck convincing the other. Of course, if Darcy was being factual, she’d have to admit that  _ he’d _ succeeded in dragging her out here, so really, who was winning? 

“I know, I know. Owning a house is a big step and maintaining it is a point of pride in homeownership, yada yada yada. I  _ get that.”  _ Darcy glared at the lineup. “What I  _ don’t _ get is what you need  _ me _ for.” 

“Because you’re an equal owner of the house,” Steve ticked off each point with a finger from the hand not holding hers. “Because you’re part of this relationship. Because it’s something to do together, the three of us.”

“And  _ I’m  _ saying you could’ve done this the two of you, and it would’ve been fine!” Darcy huffed dramatically. “This could’ve been like a special bonding thing for you guys! Aren’t you always saying how you two don’t have enough inside jokes?” 

Bucky snickered at the absurdity of her question. Steve’s expression told her he was supremely unimpressed. 

“This is  _ important _ to me, Darcy.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and that’s how she knew she’d been had. She’d never been strong-willed when it came to resisting Steve’s (or Bucky’s) charm, and time together hadn’t lessened his effect on her. Like always, she wilted under the sweet touch, caving like a house of cards. “Please, baby? Let’s try to have fun?” 

“... _ Mmmmmmaaaahhhh _ ,” Darcy groaned loudly, unintelligibly, to show her defeat. “Okay! Okay. I’m here, aren’t I? Let’s,” she paused, grimacing, “Let’s... _ shop for flowers.”  _

“Aww honey, I knew you could do it,” Bucky murmured, elbowing her, and she smacked his arm away with a scowl. 

The store was exactly as Darcy remembered them from her childhood. Aisles upon aisles of plants, some tall and lush, some small and newly blooming, incredibly fragile. Employees that were almost certainly paid too little tended to the greenery in between answering the absurd, harebrained questions of the other patrons.

“Are we getting a cart?” she asked, and both men nodded. “Can I sit in it?” 

“No,” they said, utterly unfazed by the preposterous request, and she grumbled about how they were absolutely no fun. 

“So what’s the plan for the front yard?” Bucky asked, and he and Steve devolved into a conversation full of plant species and terms like  _ full sun  _ and  _ part shade  _ and  _ annual _ and  _ perennial _ . Darcy wandered along behind them, pushing the cart, admiring the pink and purple hues and decidedly  _ not  _ participating in the discussion.

Let it be known that Darcy  liked  flowers just fine. Her boys surprised her with them all the time, and it never failed to make her blush with pleasure. But there was a mile’s difference between accepting a bouquet and harvesting a miniature fucking herb garden, and that difference was in the expectation. Steve and Bucky didn’t expect her to keep their bouquet of roses alive for the summer. The same couldn’t be said of the marigolds Bucky was eyeing. 

“Hi there!” A bright-eyed young salesclerk approached, who was far too cheery for this heat, in Darcy’s opinion. “Welcome to Audley’s. Can I help you guys with anything today?” 

Steve leaned comfortably against the cart. “We just bought a place in town this year. It’s our first time doing up the yard, so we’re just learning.” He offered a shy smile, the one Bucky called his boy scout grin. Darcy chuckled when she saw the clerk get suitably flustered. 

“Oh! Congrats! Yes, we have flowers!” She blushed to her roots in plain embarrassment. Darcy empathized. Hell, she lived with the two of them, and even  _ she  _ still got tongue-twisted. “Uh, how much sun exposure do you get?” 

On and on the conversation went, with the clerk dragging them from one end of the store to another, showing them plant after plant, holding up the little label tags shoved in the soil to either say, “This one likes part sun!” or “Oh no, this one likes full sun. No dice.” Darcy was pretty sure no other employee had ever dedicated so much time to one set of customers, but if it bothered the two men, neither showed it.

“We were hoping for something grafted onto a tree as the main event, so to speak,” Steve said, gripping the lid of his baseball cap and fiddling with it, lowering and raising it distractedly. His shirt rode up a smidge when he lifted his arms, and Darcy contented herself with watching for the sliver of toned skin that would get revealed every few seconds, like her very own sexy game of peek-a-boo. It was fun, but even that wasn’t enough to keep her from getting increasingly irritated as the hour dragged on.

“Oh, we have a ton of those right around back here!” The employee, whose name was Daphne, seemed all too delighted to lead them around the store. Steve and Bucky walked ahead, and Darcy mumbled  _ kill me  _ under her breath.

“This has been great,” Steve said with a charming smile, his polite way of dismissing the employee. 

“Thanks for your help, Daphne,” Bucky added, nodding his head. 

“Yeah, any time! Just… Shout if you need anything.” Daphne gave a tiny wave and walked away, glancing over her shoulder at the two men as she did. 

“I can’t take you two  _ anywhere _ .” Darcy sighed, giving them the stink eye. They both looked at her confusedly. “Don’t make that face! You know  _ exactly _ what I’m talking about.” 

“No, we don’t. Darcy, come tell us which you like better.” Steve held up a mini tree in either hand, one that had dark purple buds, and another with light purple buds. 

“Uh…” She pointed to the left. “That one.” 

“Hmm.” Steve and Bucky both eyed her choice critically, mouths twisting in identical expressions of misgivings. “Really?” 

She tossed her hands in the air. “Okay,  _ that  _ one then.”

“But this one isn’t really the shade of purple I had in mind.” 

“Holy fucking Jesus.” She clapped her hands over her face, and said in a muffled voice, “Why don’t you  _ tell me  _ what you want then?” 

“But then it won’t be how you really feel!” Steve protested, and Bucky laughed openly when Darcy started gnashing her teeth. 

“It,” she began, “is hotter than  _ balls _ out here. I can literally feel sweat dripping down my ass crack, gentlemen. And that’s not something I ever wanted to say! But here we are! Talking about my sweaty ass! And you know who’s fault that is?” 

“Ours,” they chorused dutifully. 

“That’s  _ right.  _ Now. I  _ love _ that you two want to make the house beauty-fied. Really. But I am  _ so hot  _ and sticky and hungry, and there seems to be no end in sight.”

“Okay,” Bucky soothed, wrapping an arm around her. “Okay. How’s this? Steve and I have almost everything picked out. We just need like another twenty minutes tops, and then we’ll get ice cream.” 

“Somewhere air conditioned,” Steve chimed in.

“Yes. We love your ass, doll.” Bucky reached down and gave it a squeeze. “We’d sure hate to be mistreatin’ it.” 

“You two are the pinnacle of romance.” 

“Mhmm.” Bucky smacked a kiss on her cheek. “And to sweeten the deal, we’ll get a different employee to cash us out. How’s that?” 

“Ah ha!” She stabbed her finger at them. “You  _ did _ know she was flirting with you!” 

Bucky scoffed. “I’m a hundred, not stupid.”

True to their word, the cart was practically full. The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly, even if Darcy continued to check out mentally, letting her eyes glaze over with boredom until they reached--

“Stop!” She dragged them to a halt, pausing in front of the aquatic displays. “Stop, stop, stop! This is the only part of the store I like!” 

Directly in front of her were two giant uncovered ponds with a dozen turtles apiece swimming in the shallow waters or sunning themselves on the rocks. There were also about two rows of chest-high tubs of water, with brilliantly coloured fish swimming in each. 

“We’re not getting any turtles,” Steve said instantly. 

“Boo.” She leaned down, dipped her fingers in the water, and flicked droplets at him. “You party pooper.” 

Bucky tipped his sunglasses up so they rested on his head. “I can’t believe people  _ buy _ turtles for gardens. For so much, too. Waste of money.” 

“Well, you  _ both _ suck. What if  _ my _ vision for our garden hinged on turtles?” 

“Then you’d be S-O-L.” 

“I’m honestly feeling so attacked.” But she was only pretending to be annoyed. God knows she’d have no idea what to do with a live fucking turtle in her backyard. 

“Okay, let’s move on--”

“Wait!” Darcy pushed the cart to the furthest pool where the fish were the largest, got on her tiptoes and peered into the water. She dangled her fingers over the stone ledge, pinching them and pretending as though she was feeding the fishies in the pond. Fat, large koi of vibrant shades of gold, orange, white and black swam to the surface, big guppy lips popping open and shut as they searched for the invisible food. 

“I think owning a koi fish is the height of luxury,” she declared, leaning on the ledge of the pool with bent elbows. 

“A koi fish?” Steve repeated, plainly amused. “You lived at Avengers Tower. You literally saw a billionaire in action every day.” 

“I’m talking  _ luxury,  _ not wealth. Tony also wears socks and sandals. But having a koi pond is when you know you’ve made it in the world.” 

Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose. “Oh good lord, you’re an odd duck, Lewis.” 

“But she’s  _ our  _ odd duck,” Steve cooed, cuffing her playfully under the chin. Darcy giggled and shied away, batting at his hands. 

“Alright, come on. Last ones, Darcy.” Bucky marched them down another aisle of flowers of the purple and pink variety.  _ Martha Washingtons,  _ they were labelled. 

Bucky began pointing and rambling to Steve. “Now if we get  _ this _ one, they’ll go with the begonias. But I was thinking…”

Back and forth the pair went, while Darcy rested her chin in her palm and watched. When they finally settled on one, she felt her whole body slacken in relief.

“So this is the one?” Bucky asked, holding a clematis plant aloft. 

“That’s the one.” Steve grinned, and playfully drew Bucky in for a short but sweet peck. Darcy started to smile, forever a sucker for their softness, until she spotted the old woman standing a few feet away, a scandalized look on her face. The old bat made a noise you’d make if you found mold on your bread, and Darcy’s whole body went rigid. 

“You alright, miss?” she asked loudly, glaring, silently daring her to say something. The old lady flushed but didn’t look ashamed in the slightest. 

“There are  _ young families present,”  _ she hissed, and though her eyes darted to Steve and Bucky, she directed the words to Darcy. The two men immediately stepped to Darcy, both aware of what was coming next and trying to stop it--

“Get bent, you old bat,” she snapped viciously. By this point, several customers had stopped to look at them, and a few had started to frown at the lady as well. 

“Well, I _never_ \--!” 

“We’re going!” Bucky said firmly, standing behind Darcy and boxing her in, pushing the cart with his hands resting on top of hers, gripping the bar. Steve dropped the clematis in the cart and made a disapproving face at her. 

“Don’t say it,” she mumbled, scowling. “That--that fucking biddy-- _ fuck.  _ I hate bigots. She’s probably  _ racist _ , too.”

“Probably,” Bucky said, his head bent close to her ear. “You gotta stop trying to pick our battles, doll.” 

“But you guys always try to protect me!” Darcy frowned, twisting in his hold to stare up at him. “You do everything you can to keep me safe. I can’t, like, disarm a grown man with my pinky  _ yet,  _ but I can fight people that try to make you feel bad!” 

“But you don’t  _ have  _ to,” Steve said gently, reaching over to cover her hand with his, stroking the skin with his thumb.

“Maybe not.” Darcy latched on to him with one hand and Bucky with the other. “But isn’t that what being a family’s about? I didn’t have to come here today, but I wanted to be with you. You didn’t have to put up with my whining, but you did, because I’m loveable and cute and you can’t bear to live without me, and my very presence brightens every room I step in--”

“ _ Yes _ , Darcy.” Bucky gave an almighty sigh, staring at the sky and seemingly praying for strength. “We get your meaning, doll.”

“Point is, I like standing up to shithead civilians for you, because I know you two can’t. I know you don’t say anything because you’re international heroes and if word got around Captain America was trash-talking some old white lady, social media might love you, but there would definitely be complaints from the higher-ups. But I can do it! Let me do that for you.” 

“She’s so feisty,” Bucky said to Steve, grinning. The blond sighed, but he looked so completely smitten with Darcy that she just beamed right back at him, unapologetic.

“A real firecracker,” Steve agreed, and he reached out to tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear. “You do brighten every room you’re in. You know that, baby?” 

Darcy blushed. She said shit like that all the time when she was feeling playful, but there was a part of her, buried way down deep inside, that kinda-sorta-desperately wanted to hear someone else affirm everything she was saying. A part of her that was convinced she was the opposite of everything she professed to be. 

Steve and Bucky, as always, got it. They got her, seemed to know without asking when she was seeking validation.

“Feelings. Yuck.” She tapped the toe of her sneakers against Steve’s, her way of deflecting but also conveying thanks. 

“Yeah.” Steve chuckled. “Yuck. You ready to go?” 

“Are  _ you?”  _ Darcy looked at the cart, which closely resembled a miniature garden compressed into a tiny space. The colour scheme of choice seemed to be yellow and purple, which surprised her a bit. She’d thought for sure they’d gravitate to red, white and blue. 

“Yeah, think we’re good here.”

“Thank god.” Darcy laughed in relief. “I didn’t want to say anything, but I don’t really like shopping for plants.” 

Bucky pressed a kiss into her hairline. “Gee, who knew?” 

“Well, the day’s not over yet,” Steve said reasonably. 

“What? Why’s that?” Darcy froze, eyes narrowed on him suspiciously. “You promised ice cream.”

“Yeah, and we will, but there’s more to do after.”

“Huh?”

“Buying the plants is only half the fun, Darcy.” Steve guided them to the check-out line, smiling like the cat that ate the canary. “Now we get to go home and  _ plant them. _ Isn’t that great?” 

Darcy only barely refrained from hurling a begonia at him.

\--

**Author's Note:**

> “I think owning a koi fish is the height of luxury” is something I said to my mother the other day, who rolled her eyes and told me I'm weird. Which is how I ended up writing this entire thing. Funny how things play out, right?
> 
> Also. I truly do hate plant shopping. But maybe I'd like it more if I had Steve and Bucky to do it with?? Who's to say?


End file.
